Bridging the Gap
by Psycho Flash
Summary: A rift is growing between two halves of New York, and one girl is caught in the middle of it. Only a select few know where she came from and who she really is. Will they be able to save the Newsies from their advancing destruction?


THIS IS MY FIRST NEWSIES FIC, SO BE NICE! Now that that's been said, I gots ta say one last thin'. There will be none of the songs in this fic, except for Santa Fe, because it's a major plot point the way I'm doing it. Got it? YAY!!! Disclaimer: In this sad, sad world we call reality, I do not own Newsies, sob, and even if I scream JACK IS MINE!!! In all capital letters, he is not mine mutters; yes he is and belongs to Disney. Onto the Fic  
  
Chapter one  
  
"DAMN YOU! ARGGHHH!!!!!!" A tall brunette brutally kicked the door of the Refuge Dormitories, trying to break through five inches of oak with her leather boots. She sun around, to find that all the other kids were staring at her, amazed. "WHAT?!" She snarled at them, green eyes flashing dangerously.  
  
"If da door woulda broken down dat easy, I woulda been outa here weeks ago." An even taller boy strode up to where she stood, smiling crookedly. "Ya prolly wouldn't want ta do dat, ye know. Snyder don't take to kind to it. You gotsa name?"  
  
The girl stared at him defiantly for a minute, then answered. "Flash," she said simply, not offering a last name, and challenging him to ask for one.  
  
"Dat's a noice name, Flash. I be Cowboy. Youse cin call me Jack, Jack Kelley, though."  
  
Flash nodded. "How'd you get 'ere?"  
  
"I stole some food. What you do," he asked as he walked over to the window, the other kids having already gone back to their own business.  
  
"Tried to borrow a few bits from Snyder."  
  
Jack snorted. "Dat ain't da smartest thin' ta do. How long ya 'ere for?"  
  
"Four months." Flash scowled, tossing her wavy hair over her shoulder.  
  
Whistling, Jack raised an eyebrow. "Dat must a been a pinch more den a few bits."  
  
Flash shrugged.  
  
There was a moment of awkward silence. Jack cleared his throat loudly. "So, youse a Newsie?"  
  
"Ya. You?"  
  
"Ya." Jack turned to look out of the window, fiddling his cowboy hat in his hands. "Well...Youse never knows what ya gonna for you're whole life, ya know?"  
  
Tilting her head to one, Flash narrowed her eyes pensively. "Ya, I does."  
  
"See dat, dere?" Jack pointed out to the West, past the setting sun. "Dat's where I'll be one day."  
  
Looking out to where Jack pointed, Flash looked at him like he was crazy. "Brooklyn? Ya wanna go ta Brooklyn?"  
  
"Nah, past dat. Santa Fe." He smiled. "In da free space, an' under a new sun. Well, Flash, 'ow long youse gonna grace us wid your presence?"  
  
Flash glared at him, annoyed. "I told ya already, four months."  
  
"No, I meant 'ow long you gonna be here 'fore ya breaks out."  
  
"Well, I ain't got ma escape plan all figured out yet."  
  
Jack nodded sympathetically. "I supposes a pretty goil like youse wouldn't mind having an escape pardner den, would ya?" He slipped an arm around her waist.  
  
Flash stared at his arm in amusement. "How could youse 'elp me?"  
  
Smiling cockily, Jack stared back out towards the city. "Let's jist say I gots an ecape all planned."  
  
"In dat case, I dinks we gots a deal."  
  
"What do I get outta dis?" Jack smiled innocently.  
  
"You gets ta 'ave me not beat ya ta a pulp."  
  
"Oh, look at me, I'm shiverin'."  
  
"You escapin' or not?"  
  
"Give it a few minutes, all roight? Things needs ta get set up." Jack stared intently at the carriage down by the Refuge gates.  
  
"Righhtttt......" Flash rolled her eyes, and stared out at the far off Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn Bridge. She shuddered slightly, and Jack semi- consciously- or just evilly, you can pick- pulled her closer.  
  
Flash's head tilted to one side, her eyes almost closed when a racket broke downstairs.  
  
"Dat would be our cue. C'mon."  
  
"What?" Flash yawned, blinking confusedly.  
  
Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door, which just creaked to reveal a shirtless Newsie and another Newsie with an eye patch. They eyed her appreciatively. "Let's go Jack, an' bring youse goily wid ya." The boy with the eye patch whispered, and then took off down the stairs, the other Newsie following, and Jack pulling Flash along behind. 'Goily indeed. ARGGGHHH. Well.....I is a goil.....but GOILY IS DIFFERENT!!' Flash thought to herself as they ran out the gates. Sucking fresh air into her lungs, she grinned. It sure felt good to be on free ground again!  
  
Rounding a corner, they slowed to a walk. The Newsie with the eye patch turned towards Jack, smiling. "I don't gets it, Jack. Youse goes ta jail, break out early, and gets a pretty goil."  
  
Jack grinned, and put an arm around her waist. "Ya, she's goirgeous, ain't she?"  
  
"She can also hear you!" Flash glared at him venomously.  
  
The shirtless Newsie whipped around to stare behind him. "Well, chums, so kan they!"  
  
Four scabbers came running around the street corner behind them.  
  
Swearing violently, Jack grabbed Flash's arm again, and they all started running like hell down the street, ducking into shadowed side allies.  
  
Flash started breathing heavily. She hadn't exactly been running around all that much since she'd been arrested, and it took a toll on her muscles. The footsteps behind them grew fainter, but they still persistently hounded the four Newsies. Turning back onto the main streets, the Newsies headed for one last alley that twisted and turned sharply. The cobblestones there were cracked and bumpy, and Flash, whose muscles were burning, tripped and fell flat on her stomach, their pursuers not far behind.  
  
The others were already a hundred feet ahead of her, but Jack came running back to hoist her up. He pushed her ahead of him, and they ran up to join the others, who had just slid into a recessed doorway that was blanketed in shadows. Flash run into the wall, unable to stop. She turned so her back was facing the wall, just in time for Jack to slam into her face first, further flattening her against the wall.  
  
In case none of you've had that happen to you, it's REALLY hard to breathe. Actually...It's pretty darn impossible.  
  
Flash clenched her jaw as Jack's face hovered just inches away from hers, smirking, and she had to strongly restrain herself to keep from hitting him square on his damned perfect nose. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, and Flash was about to pummel Jack's face to a pulp, the Scabbers ran by noisily. Their footsteps faded into the distance, but still, none of the Newsies moved.  
  
Flash got fed up with Jack pinning her against the wall. "Okay, jackass, they're gone. You can get off me now, you insufferable-"  
  
"I dunno, they might still be dere, Youse never knows-"  
  
"I knows Ise gonna kick youse from here ta Brooklyn!"  
  
The other Newsies coughed, smirking slightly.  
  
"Oh, right. Sorry, mates. Flash, dis is Mush," Jack pointed to the shirtless Newsie, "And dis is Kid Blink." He indicated the Newsie with the eyepatch.  
  
Mush stuck put his hand. "Pleased ta meet ya, Flash." They shook hands.  
  
Kid Blink grinned suggestively. "Youse knows, you can call me Blink, or any-"  
  
"Oy Blink, leave 'er alone!" Mush defended Flash valiantly. –a/n Mush is so sweet! .-  
  
They proceeded to shove each other, with Jack pointedly ignoring them. "So, Flash, ya gots anywhere ta stay?"  
  
She shrugged. "Not at da moment."  
  
Mush perked up. 'Really? Youse can come stay wid use at the lodging house! Twidge would be 'appy ta have anouder goil dere."  
  
Blink rolled his eye(s). "Is Twidge all ya dink about? Stoopid..."  
  
"I ain't stoopid!"  
  
"Sure ya ain't."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Anyways," Jack cut in smoothly. "Youse can come ta stay wid us as long as youse in Manhattan."  
  
"Pardon me fa askin', but why should I trust y'all?" Flash eyed him warily.  
  
Jack shrugged. "Didst I have ta help ya get out?"  
  
"...No..."  
  
"Well, Flash, y' see, Jack's one a does soft 'earted toipes, can't resist a damsel in distress." Mush smiled innocently.  
  
"Awww Mush, cut it out." Jack pouted pitifully.  
  
Flash ignored him. "So, Mush 'ow much does it cost ta stay in youse lodging house?"  
  
He frowned for a minute. "It's free fa da first night, and den it's thoity foive cents a week."  
  
"Well, if it's free..."  
  
Jack and Mush smiled- Blink was still sulking and rubbing his arm where Mush punched him.  
  
"Dat's great Flash, 'cause we's almost there anyways." Mush ran happily up to a tall, faded, brown building, Blink following, and Jack pulling a somewhat nervous Flash along behind him.  
  
Mush and Blink barged through the door, and ran up the stairs, boots clomping loudly on the aged wood. Jack led Flash over to a desk where a tired-looking, elderly man sat. "Kloppman, dis be Flash. She's gonna stay here fa a bit." Kloppman nodded vaguely, reading his paper, so they both walked upstairs.  
  
Flash stopped stock still before the scene of utter chaos that unfolded before her. Bunks were set up in rows throughout the entire room, but that was the only orderly thing about it. About twenty five Newsies were scattered around the room, some playing cards or dice, some sleeping, and others still running about and creating havoc.  
  
Jack cleared his throat loudly. The chaos in the room went down by about eighty percent, most of the Newsies paying attention to their leader. "Dis is Flash, an' she's gonna be staying 'ere fa awhile. Be nice."  
  
The Newsies all stared at Flash for a minute, then resumed planning their world domination or whatever else they had been doing. Jack put an around Flash's waist to propel her forward. Walking over towards the eastern corner, he stopped before the bunk of a sleeping Newsie, and bent down to pull the covers or them.  
  
The Newsie sat up so fast that she almost hit her head on the bunk above her. She turned her chocolate brown eyes to Jack in annoyance. "Jackkkkk! What was dat fa?!?!"  
  
Her dark brown hair stood out at all angles, and her tanned skin contrasted painfully with how pale Flash was.  
  
"Twidget, dis is da new goil Newsie, Flash. Can youse show her whereah ta sleep and all?"  
  
Twidget yawned. "Shore, Jack." Nodding, Jack turned and walked over to a group of Newsies by the door. Twidget turned back to Flash. "Hello! I'm Twidget!" She smiled widely, bouncing on the balls of her feet.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Twidget swung out of her bunk and walked over to the bottom bunk to her left, next to the center of the room. "Dis is where youse can sleep, and dat," she pointed to a closed door, "Is da bathroom." She sat dwon on the edge of Flash's bunk. "Soo....where ya from?"  
  
Flash sat down next to her. "Nowhere special." She bit back what her mouth REALLY wanted to say: she didn't like to hide the truth. Besides, she didn't think the Manhattans would take kindly to a Brooklyn in their midst.  
  
"That's nice. Sooo...youse Jack's new goil?"  
  
Flash stared hard at Twidget. "NO."  
  
"Oh......suuurreeee...Well, in any cause, youse be better den his last goil, Sara. SHE was as bad as dey gets. Only ever liked 'im for da glory. Poor guy. She broke 'is 'eart." Twidget grimaced, glancing around the room. Flash followed her gaze, looking from Blink to Mush, then to Jack, then back to Mush again, then to another Newsie, then back to Mush again........etc.  
  
"Sooooo," Flash said nonchalantly. "Youse likes Mush, don't ya?"  
  
Twidge reddened, staring at the fllor. "Mush? Nah, I doesn't really loike anyone here, not me toipe."  
  
"I believe ya."  
  
Twidget nodded, satisfied. "Youse should."  
  
"I was bein' sarcastic."  
  
"Oh. Youse should still believe me..." Twidget said hopefully, making it more of a question than a statement.  
  
"It's okay, Twidget, youse just in denial."  
  
"Wot's dat?"  
  
"Means ya won't admit dat youse loikes him."  
  
"Oh ya, dat. Wait, no I ain't!"  
  
"Good night, Twidget." Flash smirked as she burrowed under her thin, woolen blanket.  
  
"FLAASSHH! DAT AIN'T FAIR! YOUSE CHEATING!"  
  
Closing her eyes, Flash listened as Twidget's shouts faded to grumbles, and then were lost in the chorus of snores engulfing the room. Yawning, Flash turned onto her side, and was lost in the dark abyss of sleep.  
  
Brooklyn, that night  
  
"Where da hell is dat bitch!? What'd ya do wid 'er, Spot!?!" A tall, dark haired Newsie, stalked threateningly towards Spot, who brandished his cane. He stood protectively in front of a girl Newsie with a golden pixy cut, and brown eyes.  
  
"Look Danger, I don't know!" Spot screamed at his right-hand man.  
  
Danger's eyes burned. "Da hell ya don't! Foine! I'll be back Spot, youse jist see and I won't be alone! If youse hiding her from me, I'll kill ya!" With that, he stalked off into the dark streets of Brooklyn.  
  
Spot's shoulders sagged as he turned to the Newsie behind him. "He wants ta start a damn WAR because 'e don't know where Flash is?!"  
  
The girl nodded sadly. "I don't blame 'er fa leaving, either. Not wid Danger on her case all day."  
  
Spot slung an arm around her shoulders as he waked briskly back to the docks to tell his Newsies what happened.  
  
Manhattan, next morning  
  
"Ahhhhh...." Flash yawned widely, only to have Twidget throw a pillow at her face. "Caa breeeeeaaa!"  
  
"What? I can't hear you!" Twidget moved the pillow.  
  
"Youse a cruel person."  
  
"Get up." Twidget yawned, and combed out of her quickly with a wooden brush, which she then handed to Flash.  
  
Flash sat up slowly, grabbing the brush, and dubiously tired to pull it through the nest of hair coming out of her head. A few minutes, some lost hairs, and a long struggle later, Flash's hair was wavy and shoulder-length again. Twidget tossed clothes at her head, noting that Flash's didn't really resemble clothes anymore.  
  
All the boys were in the bathroom, judging from the amount of noise coming from that general, so Flash changed on her bunk.  
  
The shirt was plain white, a little loose, with long, scooping sleeves and laces up the front. Her pants were dark brown and gathered at the ankle. Just when she finished tying a length of rope around her waist for a belt, the boys came bursting out of the bathroom in a noisy mass, and headed for the door.  
  
Twidget and Flash looked at each other, shrugged, and ran to catch up. The stairs creaked loudly as they leapt down them and sped up to the back of the group where Jack and Mush where walking. Panting, Flash and Twidget ran up beside Jack.  
  
"Heya Flash. Youse gonna sell papes wid' us taday?"  
  
"Suppose so."  
  
Mush walked in silence, and then caught a glimpse of Twidget out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Twidge, how are ya?"  
  
She blushed slightly, although it was hidden under her tan. "I'm good."  
  
"Youse wanna sell papes wid me taday?" Mush tried not to look eager. (He failed miserably.)  
  
"Aw, shore Mush." They grinned at each other. Flash fell behind them making faces at how adorable they were. She was about to trip and slyly push them into each other when Jack tapped her shoulder. "So, Flash, ya wanna sell wid me taday?" He grinned crookedly.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"I was 'oping youse would say dat." The group turned into a large courtyard, past large, green iron gates, and began lining up by a barred counter.  
  
Jack pushed to the front of the line with Flash, and Mush and Twidget following. As they strolled up to the front of the line, a man appeared on the other side of the bars. He narrowed his beady eyes at Jack, and his stomach bulged outwards dangerously.  
  
Jack grinned. "Heya Weasel. A 'undred papes." Weasel scowled as Jack tossed him the coin and handed him a fat stack of papers. He moved out of the way so that Flash could get her merchandise.  
  
Flash turned to Weasel. "Fifty papes, please." He grabbed he two bits from her hand and almost threw the papers at her. She and Jack went to go sit on a small ledge, browsing the headlines for a few minutes before heading out the gates.  
  
Jack led Flash left twice, stopping at a busy street corner nearby the train tracks. "You ready ta sell?" He asked.  
  
Flash nodded.  
  
Jack turned and started screaming out the usual extremely embellished version of a random headline. Flash scrutinized the paper for a minute, and then began to do the same.  
  
Example: Earthquake frightens villagers of Syracuse! Edited example: Earthquake flattens city of Syracuse, villagers flee for their very lives!  
  
Flash tried to embellish the headlines as much as she could, but she couldn't stop feeling guilty about it all. Thus, she lied less, thus she finished her fifty papes around the same time as Jack, right after noon.  
  
"So, youse wants ta go get some food?"  
  
Flash's stomach grumbled loudly.  
  
"This way, m'am."  
  
Flash discovered she still had one paper left, and used it to hit Jack with the entire way to lunch.  
  
"So, Mush, why don't ya come sit over hereah by Twidget and me?"  
  
Mush shrugged, moving over so that Flash was squashed in between Twidget and Jack. Flash sighed. The world apparently had a vendetta against her being able to breathe.  
  
Jack, of course, really didn't mind, being Jack and all, and put an arm around Flash's shoulders. "Owwww!"  
  
"YOUSE HAND MOVED IN DA WRONG DIRECTION!"  
  
Jack turned slightly pink. –a/n, why Jack, are you blushing? Le gasp!-  
  
He mumbled something under his breathe.  
  
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"  
  
He nodded in the direction of Mush and Tiwdget. They were holding hands!  
  
"Awwwwww, dat's s-"  
  
Jack clapped a hand over her mouth, pulling her head onto his shoulder.  
  
"Cheeeetaww." Flash was somewhat muffled from the hand covering her mouth. Jack nodded agreeably.  
  
Ten minutes later, after Flash had gotten free and thrown bread at Jack's head, Mush and Twidget were still holding hands. 


End file.
